I"ve gotten lots of advice for this "problem". Guess I"m hoping someone will have a magic solution..

Chloe is a very good girl, passed her obedience course very well and is perfectly behaved outside, in the car, and is reasonably good in other people's houses (after she has snooped around)

BUT when I have visitors, she goes ballistic - totally out of control. She wasn't like this when I got her, but I don't have a lot of visitors and if it were up to her, I"d have streams of people coming and going.

She works herself into a frenzy, complete with full range of sound effects, and some people who aren't used to dogs find it alarming.

I've tried all kinds of things with no success. What I've been doing lately is gating her into a bedroom off the kitchen so she can see and hear people, then wait til guests are seated and things are calmer. Then I bring her out on a leash. If she goes haywire, I return her to the bedroom.

All this is rather inconvenient, since if the doorbell rings I have to rush her into the room before answering the door.

Is she crate trained? Connor pesters any guests incessantly. I usually just put him in there if he doesn't leave them alone. He goes right to sleep.

Demo Dick

"My first priority will be to reinstate the assault weapons ban PERMANENTLY as soon as I take office...I intend to work with Congress on a national no carry law, 1 gun a month purchase limits, and bans on all semi-automatic guns."-Barack Obama"When in doubt, whip it out."-Nuge

I tried for YEARS to get Tank not to be a looser when people came over. All kinds of methods. The thing that finally worked was the squirt bottle. What a geek. If he is being an idiot, I give him a squirt and he runs away, then comes back trying to behave and lies at the persons feet. He just doesn't want to face that dreaded squirt of water.

Vicki is the same way, P. I let her wiggle for a minute and then I put her on her bed in a down stay or in her crate till she calms down. This usually works, but if she gets crazy again, I just repeat the process. She'll usually calm down after the second time.

This is a problem I occasionally see... funny, especially with pits , so excited about being friendly...

Yes it is fixable. But it depends on you.

The problem I see (saw with 2) is that the dogs were well trained and obedient in all of the areas of life where the owners were vigilent in their training (being bullies). In the process of making their dogs well socialized and excepted to the public eye, they did not hold the same rules, boundries and limitations, at home. This stresses dogs. Inconsistancy, and trying to train when you cannot truly FOCUS your energy on the dog, is never successful. I have fixed this both with correction based methods and marker training so I know it can be sucessfull with both.

Please also evaluate the dog.
Is he just generally well behaved in certain situations, and never really required training?

If so, GREAT! However, please realize that you may have not developed the skill to train him when he is in a more excited state. You just need the skills... seek classes.

If you did take classes and have those "wild one's" that I always see (and I love them, I own them too)... and you fought to learn the skills that GOT them 'polite in public'... you "have the power".

Invite over 'company' just for training. Someone you dont have to pay attention to, just for a few minutes, who arent worried about your dog (and will follow instructions not to pay attention to him AT ALL until you are satisfied with his behavior). Like teenagers, friends, family... ignore your company, and train your dog with whatever method you are comfortable with... just expect and require the same focus and attention you expect at obedience class, a public park, or in the car. Only train him when you can give your full attention to him until you succeed. When you cannot, simply manage the problem (put him away), until you can. This is preferable to, not giving yourself the ability to be consistant.
Eventually the occasion comes where you must train with unexpected company. The first few times, you should 'manage' (crate or bedroom) him until the company has already entered. Explain you need to take a minute to train your dog (3-5 minutes is usually all it takes) and if they are a friend they will be patient, and understand, if not, dont... but it tells you who your friends are. You must remember, the excitement of greeting a new person, enhanced by the confining space of an entryway, your excitement and distractedness of inability to control situation... are all different fuels for the fire.
If you
1. manage the dog
2. enter and greet IN the house (open room, not doorway)
3. take a few minutes to train your dog while you are calm and can concentrate on him...
4. when he has calmed down and obedient, allow him to calmly greet the people.
that will exhaust some of the fuel.
You should see improvement in a relatively short time. Depending on how many opportunities you have to train and how consistant you are.

Please understand I dont know all of the situations you maybe experiencing. Please let me know if this info is to simplistic or vague, and I will try to explain.

"Pedigree indicates what the animal should be;
Conformation indicates what the animal appears to be;
But, Performance indicates what the animal actually is."
- author unknown